It's been a while since we arrived at Gran Pulse. Various bloodthirsty monsters have blocked our path, but we manage to survive this long. For me, it's a personal achievement, knowing that I'm the weakest in the group… I'm not as strong as Fang or Snow, and my magical powers aren't as powerful as Hope's or Vanille's. The only reason I survived this long was because I have people I can count on. Especially Lightning. She is always there for me. Whenever a monster senses my weakness and charges at me, she is always ready to interfere and saves me from the monster's gnashing teeth. I always do feel bad for my weakness, so I trained hard. Now my magic had become more powerful and I specialize myself on medic. It feels good to heal the others whenever they get hurt. Not that I'm getting used to the sight of blood though. I still wince whenever I see blood gushing out from a wound. But I guess I must bear with it since the monsters are getting stronger and we often get hurt. The medics, me, Hope and Vanille, had to remain vigilant and hasty during fights so that we can heal the others. For a while, things had seemed to be under control.
However, Lady Luck wasn't on our side… Again. Fang had told us about a Pulse fal'Cie who controls life's circle in Gran Pulse, Titan. She said he often pits monsters against each other in tournament-styled battles in order to see who is the strongest. Of course, after hearing this, Snow got all excited and suggested that we all go to visit this Titan and see if we can defeat his monsters of choice. The others agreed that it would be a good training method, so off we went to the Faultwarrens, Titan's dwelling. At first the monsters seemed okay, but then this Ci'eth called Attacus got thrown at us. He was anything but okay. Hope even almost lost his arm! He got distracted, trying to send a healing spell at Sazh and attacking at the same time. Before he knew it, Attacus was already in front of him, bringing his gigantic sword down to cut Hope's extended arm clean off. Luckily Lightning managed to get herself between Hope and Attacus, blocking the attack. I was terrified though, seeing her buckled under the pressure of the giant sword. But she managed to roll away from under the sword and continued attacking, her expression as stoic as ever. Yeah, that's my sister over there. Always calm and quiet. She is like the eye of the mighty hurricane… Calm, but always causing chaos and destruction on her wake. I admire her. Still, I'm always worried about her well-being, just as she does mine.
The next thing that we knew was that we defeated Attacus and Titan himself talked to us. He told us news that almost stopped my heart from beating.
Barthandelus is alive.
Somehow, that cursed fal'Cie managed to come back to life. Titan said Barthandelus has 5 lives. We had killed him twice, once in the Palamecia and once in Oerba. Now he has come back again, even stronger. The only way to kill him fully was to use the power of Ragnarok. But none of us want to be such a cold-blooded monster, right? So we decided to go to the Temple of Lindzei, in the forgotten valley of Haerii on Gran Pulse. Vanille said that a sword bearing the power of Ragnarok was enshrined there a long time ago by Lindzei himself. The reason of why he did that remained a mystery, but one thing for sure: the sword is guarded by mighty monsters that no one has succeeded to leash the sword's power for centuries. And now we are going to face those monsters.
The first part of the journey was fine. We got into the temple, fighting monsters along the way. Sure, they were tough, but nothing extraordinary. Vampires, Behemoths, Ochu and once, an Adamanchelid. They are surely strong, but manageable. Snow got our spirits high by saying that maybe we have become so strong that the temple's guardians do not pose much difficulty to us. I must admit he is good in motivating! But still, Lightning, being serious as always, kept telling us to remain vigilant and ready for anything that may happen. She said things had been too easy, it might be a trap. Fang agreed with her. I couldn't help but thinking they were just being paranoids. How terrible it was that they were actually right.
We had acquired the sword, but as soon as we lifted it from its shrine, the ground shook violently. We ran, Snow bringing the sword, but soon we realized that there were 2 monsters chasing us. Monsters we have never seen before. One looks like a giant bird, the other looks like horse with horn. They chased us, and now here we are, running for our lives.
"Run, Serah!" I hear Light shouting at me. I see the bird opens its beak and shoots a white beam towards me. Guessing the attack to be magical, I cast Shell around me. The Shell doesn't hold for as long as I expected against the beam, but it gives me enough time to actually run towards Lightning. She grabs my arm and we run together. I feel safe then.
Being with my sister always makes me feel safe, even in the heat of battle.
Snow is running back towards us. "Are you guys ok?" he asked.
"What the hell are you doing here? You are supposed to protect the sword! It's your top priority! Run!"
That's Light, of course. She is never too fond of Snow. I watched as Snow sprinted off, avoiding Lightning's glare.
"Wise choice."
I turn, seeing Sazh running behind us. He winked at me. "We just can't catch a break, can we?" he said, and continued running as the horse comes galloping at us. This situation has begun to resemble a cat-and-mouse chase. Only deadlier.
At the other side of the room, Fang, Vanille and Hope are running feverishly from the bird. It flies faster, though, and the group tried to run faster. Suddenly Vanille stumbled, and the bird, seeing a chance, shoots a white beam at her.
"Look out, 'Nille!"
Fang. Of course. She pushes Vanille aside, and the beam gets her arm. Her arm immediately becomes limp, and Fang stares at it, a surprised look on her face. She pulls Vanille up and continues running, shouting, "Watch out for the bird's beams! It's an energy beam; it saps energy from you!"
"There!" suddenly Lightning shouts. She points at an alcove high on the room's wall, probably for statues. The statue, however, can be seen in a not-so-encouraging position on the floor, 10 meters below its alcove. Looks like the bird has toppled it down, destroying it to pieces.
"Split up, then go up!" Lightning shouts again.
Immediately Sazh separates from us and goes running with Snow. Hope joins them. That leaves team me+Lightning and team Fang+Vanille. Okay.
Unfortunately, the horse has decided to chase after us.
"Damn," Light swears under her breath, and she pushes me to run in front of her. The horse neighed loudly, stomping its hooves and shaking its horny head in rage. I can picture a disturbing image of that horn sticking through my body, so I run faster. The horse catches up with me with ease, its dark blue eyes full of murder. Its teeth are bared, and it rammed its shoulder towards me.
"Help!" I shout.
And Lightning is there. Right in front of me, protecting me. Again. But this time is different. She did not have enough time to block the attack, and the horse's shoulder rammed into her.
"Agh!" I heard her groaned as electric shocks strike her body through the horse's shoulder. It's a freaking electric horse!
Lightning is slammed to the ground, and the horse charged at her with its horn ready. Lightning grimaced for a second from the electrocution pain, but manages to raise her gunblade on time to block the horn. Once her blade makes contact with the horn, an electric wave is sent through her body. "Gah!" Lightning shouts again, her blade wavers. I regain my wits at that moment, and cast some Protect spells on her, which repel the horse backwards a few steps. This is enough for Lightning to roll away and stand up, then run towards me and drag me away.
"Are you okay, Light?" I asked her. I feel guilty. My sister has protected me, and all I did mostly was freezing at the spot.
"I'm fine," she says. "The electric wave just caught me by surprise."
She does look fine though. Even her steps aren't wavered. She's Lightning, after all. She is strong, invincible. That's what I believe.
We arrive under the alcove, and Light grabs me into her arms. I know what will come next, so I swing my arms around her neck and hold on to her tightly. I did it on time, right before Light jumps. I see her legs kick the wall once during our jump and the action brings us right into the alcove. Whoa, I'm still not used to jumping with Lightning. Sure, I know I'm safe as long as I'm with her, but still… I still get the vertigo. I don't understand how Lightning can move so fast and executes so many stunts while still keeping her wits.
Sazh, Hope and Snow are already there. Hope, being Lightning's 'subordinate' immediately approaches her, ensuring that she is okay. "You guys alright?" asks Snow.
"Yeah," I answer him, smiling weakly, still a bit winded from the jump.
An explosion brings me back to reality. We hurry to the alcove's rim, and are greeted with a view of Fang and Vanille running from the bird, who seems to just destroyed a pillar with its energy beam. Rabbles fall, providing Fang and Vanille with a distraction. As the bird struggles to fly around the falling rabbles, they run towards our alcove.
Vanille extends the rope on her rod and it finds its way to our alcove, winding around a rock sticking out from the floor. She jumps, Fang holding on to her waist, but the bird is still hot on their tail. It lets out a screech, opening its beak to attack. "Eat this!" I heard Fang shouts angrily and jabs the bird's beak with her lance. Ouch. It screeched in pain, losing control over its wings and drops a few meters down. And so Fang and Vanille shoot towards us. We immediately step back, giving them space to land. Fang lands smoothly, but Snow has to catch Vanille to prevent her from crashing into the alcove's wall.
"Whew!" Fang exhales loudly, grinning, and is followed by Vanille's nervous giggle. Snow laughs, and soon Hope and Sazh are laughing too. I could not resist laughter, so I laugh with them.
"Alright, now that we are alive we must ensure we keep this status with us a while longer."
Lightning is being serious again. Or rather, focused. I know she's right though.
"That bird is not so dangerous," Fang says immediately. "Sure, it's fast, and can kill you with its beak and claws. But other than that, it only has the annoying energy beam that saps your energy little by little. Nothing unmanageable."
"But the horse is dangerous," I say. "It's an electric horse, it can shoot electric beams at will. Its body is protected by a layer of electricity; we can't hurt it with blades. It will simply send electric waves through your blade to your body. It's very strong too, and its horn doesn't make things easier for us." I describe the horse to them. This report dampens the good mood set by Fang's report.
"These monsters… I've never seen them before. They must be the sword's guardians," says Vanille.
"Great," says Hope. "We thought the temple was manageable, and here we are, facing 2 deadly monsters never seen before. Just great."
"Hey, no need to be all negative! They caught us by surprise just now, but we know their secrets already! With a good plan, we can take 'em!" Snow tries to cheer Hope up. His remark keeps us silent, trying to come up with a plan to survive, preferably with the legendary sword.
After a while, Snow speaks. "Hey, why don't we just go back down there and beat them up? We got separated just now, but this time we can stick together! They'll be goners!" he put on that boyish, confident smile of his.
"Oh, sure. Just charge in, guns blazing at Lindzei's pets? Doesn't it occur to you that these creatures may have other things up their sleeves?" comes Fang's cutting reply.
"Huh? I didn't see any sleeves, Fang…." Snow frowns, a confused look on his face.
"Oh, please. It's just an expression. What do they teach today's kids during literature anyway?" Sazh grumbles.
"Anyway, what I mean is, we should be careful with these freaks," Fang says. "I suggest we use Light's favorite strategy: divide and conquer. Get me and Vanille on the loose, and we'll sabotage one of those monsters with Slow, while the rest of you protect us. Once it is done, all of us can charge together at the other monster, beat the heck outta it while its comrade is immobilized, then continue the procedure with the first monster."
A few seconds of silence follows this, while everyone considers this strategy. Then,
"That's one hell of a strategy!"
"Fang, you are unbelievably genius!"
"It might work! We can kill them and go home with the sword!"
"Everything will be okay!"
Everyone is happy and positive about the plan. I myself begin to think that these monsters are not that deadly. We can take 'em!
"No."
That voice pierces the air. Lightning stares at us. "No," she repeats, her eyes as hard as frozen lakes.
"What do you mean, Light? The plan's good! We can beat them!" Vanille tries to convince Lightning.
"Who knows what other monsters lurk beyond this place? Let's face it. We've sauntered right into Lindzei's trap. Don't you get it? We strolled here happily, unaware that we were trapping ourselves! Lindzei did not set his pets to block the temple's entrance. He set them to block the temple's exit. "
Silence.
"You're right, Lightning… there may be monsters out there, but so what? Our plan can still work! We beat these monsters, then continue out. We face more monsters, we wipe 'em out together. Simple," Fang says.
"But the sounds of our fight here may attract the other beasts. Then they'll come swarming here and we'll be as good as dead!" Light begins again.
The group falls silent as her words begin to make sense in our heads.
"No. The only way," Lightning says, "is for me to stay here while you all continue moving."
Her words surprised us all.
"Hell, no!"
"We won't leave you alone!"
"Come on, Light, you can't do that!"
The protests continue, but I am terrified to see Lightning's eyes have turned cold and hard like ice. I've seen those eyes before, and they mean only one thing: Lightning's serious. She has made a decision, and she won't let anything get in her way once she has.
I tug her arm. "Please, sis… Don't be so foolhardy. We're in this together; we can fight them together… You don't have to go alone…" I wanted to sound convincing, but my voice sounds more like a plea.
She looks down at me. "There is no other way. If we all stay here, we might all get killed when other monsters turn up."
"Then why don't we just split the group into two? I can stay here and help you," Snow suggests.
I think it is a good suggestion, but Lightning barks it away like a Gorgonopsid barking an Imp away.
"We don't know what sort of monsters lay ahead. If you stay here and the monsters ahead turn out to be stronger than these ones, what then? We'll end up killed as well. No, there must only be one person staying here. Someone who can take these monsters on, and I'm sure I can."
"Then why must it be you, Light?" Fang asks her. "It can be me, too. I also think I can take these freaks of nature. I may not be as fast as you in taking 'em down, but I can still beat them."
"It won't work. The person who stays here must be able to finish fast, then catch up with the group to help fighting the next monsters ahead."
The group falls silent again.
"That's one perfect plan you have there, soldier," Sazh finally mumbles, followed with reluctant nods from the others.
"Guess the usual charge-in-through-the-front-door method isn't working anymore…" says Hope.
I can't believe this. Sure, Lightning's right, but I can't just leave her here alone! What if she gets hurt? I ask her immediately.
"But what if you get hurt Light? What if you can't beat them? What if you can't catch up with us? What if there is actually nothing ahead for us to fight?"
She looks at me again, her eyes soften.
"Then," she says, "all you guys have to do is to get to the base camp, leave the sword there and ensure it's safe, then come back here. Maybe I can't beat them, but I am surely able to hold them up until you guys return to my aid. Relax, Serah. The only injury I may get, and the only reason that I cannot catch up with you guys, is if that bird hits me with the energy beams and I cannot move. Other than that, I'll be okay."
And she looks so confident that I begin thinking that everything will be okay. It's always like this with my sister. She makes me feel safe. But I'm still worried.
"I still cannot let you go! What if you die, sis? What am I supposed to do then?" I say, almost breaking into tears. No. Not now. I won't cry now! I must show her that I'm not scared; I'm just trying to keep her safe!
"Serah."
She looks at me, her eyes warm and confident.
"I promise you, I won't die."
I look up at her, and see her smiling.
At that moment, I forget about everything. I don't care about anything else. There is only my sister there, smiling softly at me. I know that smile, because I love it so much. It makes me feel assured that everything's gonna be okay. A memory flashes in my head…
Flashback
I was ill. I was lying on my bed in my dark room, trying my best to sleep. I had a terrible fever, and it caused me awful headaches that kept me thinking about horrible memories. Our parents dying, and all memories of them. I began sobbing. I felt so alone, helpless, scared. Everything seemed threatening. I couldn't sleep.
That was when sis came to me. She lies down beside me. I snuggled to her, hugging her tightly. She fills me with warmth. I pushed my face into her soft hair, taking in that familiar, calming smell. Even though she says nothing, I felt better just by being with her. The feeling of her muscular stomach rose and fell under my hand as she breathed helped me feel safer, too. Yes, Lightning has this aura around her that makes me believe that she'll always be there for me, that she'll never leave me. I kept snuggling to her the whole night. Light never left my side, even after I fell asleep. She just lies there silently, keeping me safe and warm with her presence. She chased the nightmares away. And as long as she is there, as long as I'm with my sister, I know everything's gonna be alright.
I love my sister. She is the light of my life. My savior. When our parents died, I was so devastated. Lightning was the one who raised me back from my slump. She took all the responsibilities, she kept everything under control, and our lives continue as for normal. She brings me up. She protects me. She chases my nightmares away. She looks after me. And she loves me so unconditionally. She is a miracle, a blessing I have so fortunately received. And she is always there for me whenever I need her. It makes me believe that Lightning will always be with me. I believe that she can wipe away any danger thrown at us with a slash of her gunblade. And I believe that she is invincible.
I snap back into reality, staring at Lightning's eyes. They are warm and confident. She is invincible. Slowly, I begin to accept her plan. I ask her again, "You promise you won't die today?"
"I promise, Serah. You know I always keep my promises."
And I believe her. How could I not, while she is looking right into my eyes with such confidence and suppressed rage towards the monsters in her eyes? She'll kill those monsters. She will. She'll kill them, and join us again at the base camp tonight. We'll be okay… Right?
"Tonight, we'll be sitting around the campfire with the sword and everyone alive," she says.
Those words banish all my doubts. I totally believe her now. I smile, and nod.
Immediately the group let out a breath they have been holding while I make my decision. They smile too.
"Well, then… Best of luck, soldier," Sazh says.
"Make sure you kick 'em hell good, ok?" Fang says with her mischievous grin.
"You can do it, Light!" Vanille says happily, punching the air with her tiny fists.
"See you soon!" Snow laughs, patting Lightning's back.
"Be careful… Light… Don't push yourself too hard," Hope adds, a worried look still flashes on his face.
"Don't worry. I'll beat them. Defeat is not an option here," Lightning replies, a ghost of a smile plays at the tips of her lips as she looks down at her 'subordinate.' "Once I go down there, I'll distract them. You guys don't jump down before those monsters are completely distracted. Once they are, just jump down and run to the exit without glancing back. Sazh and Vanille, you two are the best in securing preemptive strikes. I leave the command to you guys, ok? See you guys soon."
With that, she turns her back on us and walks towards the alcove's edge. Just when she is about to jump, I call her back.
"Sis?"
She turns her head at me.
"Remember your promise."
She just smiles confidently, mutters a 'Yeah,' and jumps down.
All of us immediately go to the alcove's edge to watch her. I can see the bird and horse make their way towards her, wanting to tear her to shreds. Lightning continues falling towards the ground, but just when I think she is going to crash into the ground, she shouts.
"Odin!"
"Oh-ho! This'll be fun!" Fang laughs as she watches Odin explodes into existence on the ground, grabs Lightning, and flings her towards the horse. Then Odin jumps upwards and engages himself in a fast battle with the bird. But I am more concerned about Light. I don't want to see her gets electrocuted again!
Lightning rams into the horse, her gunblade locks with its horn. I am expecting her to get electrocuted, but nothing happens. The force of Lightning's movement pushes the horse backwards and it loses its balance. Lightning immediately swings herself sideways, slashing the horse's side and back. Then she somersaults away, kicking the horse as she does. She lands a few meters away, and I can see her grinning coldly. There is no happiness in her eyes, just rage.
"Whoa, how did she do that? I thought she was supposed to get electrocuted?" Snow asks in puzzlement.
"There's something different with her gunblade…" Fang says, squinting her eyes to see clearer. "It's… shining.. And crackles?"
Upon hearing this, Sazh and Hope, our two Synergists, immediately says "Of course!" then look at each other. Sazh laughs and says, "You explain it, kid."
Hope answers immediately, "She casts Enthunder on her blade! That's why she did not get electrocuted; the electric charges in the gunblade and the horn cancel each other."
"Wow," Vanille says, her eyes wide with amazement. "When did she do that?"
"Must be when Odin swings her. Odin's a master of the Thunder element, he's surely able to do just that," Fang mumbles. "Quite remarkable, her idea…"
We continue watching silently as Lightning clashes and slash her gunblade at the horse. It tries to run, but Lightning gives no mercy. Her fight becomes more and more violent and fast-paced as the horse grows desperate upon realizing that it cannot electrify Lightning. Lightning also doesn't give it any chance to shoot electric shock directly at her un-Enthundered body. Meanwhile, the fight above ground is not less violent. Odin swings his gigantic blade at the bird, clashing with its beak, wings and claws. The bird shoots him with its energy beams, but Odin looks unaffected. Once, it releases a fury of slashes with its beak and claws, but Odin resists it with his Ullr's Shield. Odin occasionally casts electric shocks at the bird, too, and every time this hits the bird, it lets out a screech of pain. Looks like it is weak towards the Thunder element, then. The double fights continue, looking terrifying, yet graceful in their own way. A menacing beauty.
An explosion draws our attention back to Lightning. I was horrified to see the horse has snapped. Literally. Electricity bursts from every pore in its body, crackling, making the air hisses with its power. It is focusing all that electricity to a single attack, and shoots it towards Lightning.
"Odin!" Lightning calls, then everything happens so fast I could barely see. First, Odin rushes back towards Light. It looks like he grabs her and flings her again, and then the next thing we know is that Odin stands absorbing the horse's electricity attack, seeming unaffected by it, while Lightning is suddenly in the air, sending a powerful Thundaga spell at the bird. The bird, not expecting Odin to disappear and gets replaced by Lightning, cannot dodge the attack. The spell hits it straight, and a mighty explosion fills the air, as well as the bird's screeches of pain.
I cheered. It's true, then. Wherever Lightning goes, thunder follows!
"Whoop! Serves you right, overgrown chicken! How do ya like gettin' fried?" Fang shouts in glee, her face full of amusement. "Geez, I wish I have popcorns right now! Nothing beats the fun of watchin' an enemy's ass gettin' kicked!"
"Ouch. That bird must be regretting its decision of fighting Lightning right now," Sazh winced.
"Of course! Light's gonna teach 'em where their places are!" Hope shouts, a smile of admiration lights his face as he watches Lightning and Odin switches their positions again.
Vanille, meanwhile, has been dancing some kind of victory dance since the bird gets 'fried,' to use Fang's expression.
"Lightning tears the sky, Lightning flashes bright, Lightning wins!" she sings merrily, high-fiving Snow, who smiles broadly too. "Now we only have to wait until the horse gets pummeled as well, then we can jump down there and race for more fun!" he says.
Ironically, just after his lips close, chaos breaks.
Odin and Lightning has returned to their initial positions with their initial enemies, but their fights have caused them to have quite a great distance between them. Apparently the horse and bird have decided not to let Lightning and Odin switch positions again. It's strange, though. It looks like the bird and horse can communicate with some kind of strange telepathy, as they can move together as a team, not as individual monsters. It must be said, these monsters have more brain than the other common monsters we meet at Gran Pulse. Those monsters are driven by instincts, but these monsters are driven by purpose, and they know what they are doing. Good for them, but bad for us.
It all begins when the bird flies past our alcove, chased closely by Odin. We duck back into the alcove, of course, but Hope does it a moment too late. The bird spots him, and screeched loudly, before flying away. But its screech is enough to take the horse's attention. It neighs, raising its front legs so suddenly. Lightning, not expecting the sudden move, takes the blow on her legs and falls. The horse immediately runs away from her, and positions itself in a straight line with our alcove.
As it stands there, jolts of electricity form at the tip of its horn. It gets bigger and bigger, until its size is bigger than its body. Then it neighs and releases the electricity cannon towards us. Damn. The bird has told it we are here!
"Dammit! Guys, get ready!" Fang shouts. She moves towards the alcove's opening, standing in a defense position beside Snow as Sentinels.
"Cast Shell, kiddos!" Sazh shouts as well, casting Shell immediately at the alcove's opening, in front of Fang and Snow. I immediately do as he says, followed by Vanille and Hope. The numerous Shell spells cover the opening with a glimmering transparent greenish wall.
We watch in fear as the cannon gets closer to us. Sure, it's moving quite slowly, but it's big and powerful. It shall hit us any minute now.
"Shoot! We won't make it! It's too big!" Snow remarks, his eyes wide opened.
I try to cast more Shell as fast as possible and I can see Hope, Vanille and Sazh are doing the same thing. No. We can't die here. I still have to see Lightning!
Just when we think we are finished, and Snow and Fang have tensed themselves for impact, we heard Lightning's voice.
"Odin!" she shouts. "Lend me your blade!"
She has realized our situation, and comes for our aid. We see her running towards us, holstering her gunblade as she sprints. I must admit she sprints very fast. I have once overheard Fang telling Vanille one day that she had never met anyone else who could overrun her in a straightforward sprint besides Lightning. And now Lightning is sprinting full tilt towards us, her expression angry and tense.
Meanwhile, Odin throws his blade at Lightning, then continues fighting the bird with his fists and Thunder spells. The wing-like blade cuts through the air, heading towards Lightning, the Thunder pattern etched into it glows as it spins.
Lightning jumps, catches the blade in midair, and thrusts it into the wall under our alcove. She uses it as a leverage to throw herself upwards. We see her turns around to face the cannon, right below our alcove. Subconsciously, I extend my hands down towards her.
Right then, the cannon makes contact. It hits Lightning square on her body, pushing her against the wall. I would have thought it kills her hadn't I seen her raising the blade in front of her body right before the impact. We hear her groans as she tries to block the cannon and prevent it from crushing and electrocuting her. I know Odin's blade is an electrical conductor, but now the cannon has too much thrusting force that it cannot be conducted away unless Lightning can somehow push it back.
I look at her face. She clenches her teeth in defiance; her arms trembling on her effort to withstand the cannon. Then she suddenly changes her position. She still holds the blade in front of her to block the attack, but she also lifts her legs so that now her feet are flat against the wall.
"Gggghhh….!" She bellows as she tries to kick the wall. Her thighs work laboriously, her muscles tensed, then she kicks the wall so hard it propels her forward into the cannon.
The cannon is pushed back, and Lightning simply swings the blade to conduct the cannon away. It hits the far wall near the horse with a loud explosion, causing it to collapse entirely.
"Bless those thunder thighs, they're gonna kick you good! Yes, she is Lightning! Whoooop!" Fang exclaims, a fierce happiness fills her face. Sazh and Snow just exhale loudly, while Vanille drops to the ground, letting out a breath of relief. But Hope and I hurry to the opening, which is still protected with Shell, to see Lightning. She has landed on the ground, throwing Odin's blade back at him and take out her gunblade from its holster again. Then she runs towards the collapsing wall, waiting for the horse to emerge from underneath it, if it survives the rabbles.
"Now's our chance! Let's move!" Sazh commands.
Without further ado, all of us jump down, Snow catching me, then run towards the exit. Just before we leave the vast room, I glance back and catch a glimpse of Lightning somersaulting backwards to avoid the galloping horse and shoots its back a few times with her gunblade in midair. Then the tunnel swings to the left and she disappears from my view.
Please be okay… Sis…